Myth Busting: Safety Differently in the Drilling and Completions Community

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February 2018

Griffith University’s Professor Sidney Dekker does not shy away from busting some long-held safety myths. “Our conclusions about Heinrich haven't been correct” he told the participants at the 12th Drilling and Completions Industry Incident Review Panel (DCIIRP). “The commonly accepted accident triangle is not supported by the data. Research actually shows that organisations who report more incidents will seriously or fatally injure fewer people. Our traditional approaches to safety have led to cultures of risk secrecy. We need to break this paradigm and invest in cultures of risk competence. We need to approach safety differently. One simple way is to ask your workforce “What is the stupidest thing that we ask you to do every day at work?”

Professor Dekker’s thought provoking presentation was the culmination of the DCIIRP event hosted by Origin Energy and Horizon Resources International on 14 February. Representatives of companies from the Queensland CSG drilling and completions community gathered to hear presentations from Operators and Contractors about recent incidents and to share lessons learnt. Several presentations were focused on innovations that will improve safety in the Queensland drilling and completions sector.

Lachlan Nally, Group General Manager at Horizon Resources International remarked “This event has definitely given us a lot to think about. It’s a great opportunity for HRI to be part of something like this, and an important event for the industry here in Queensland. We hope everyone got something out of it. I’d encourage our colleagues in the contracting community to put your hand up to host a future event”.

The event was thought provoking from the very start. In a change from the traditional Safety Moment, Trent Smith, HSE Manager of Drilling and Completions at Origin Energy started the event with a Diversity and Inclusion Moment. Trent presented the evidence linking diversity and inclusion to better business outcomes…including safety.

Presentations on innovations included: The Startup Effect (i.e. the effect that rig start-up and shutdown has on rig safety and other aspects rig performance); Assist and Assure.

Trent Smith was very happy with proceedings. “The presentations delivered were an honest look into where things can go wrong and the participation of the crowd helped bring some of the key messages to life. The innovations peaked the curiosity and inspired the continual exploration into all that is safety in the pursuit of continual improvement. I left the event excited for the future”.

Safer Together Members can access the DCIIRP #12 presentations and summaries of event discussions and feedback here.